


The Singing Towers of Darillium and the Fall of the Eleventh

by widowshulk



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Darillium, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Regeneration, Singing Towers of Darillium
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-03
Updated: 2015-06-03
Packaged: 2018-04-02 18:15:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4069765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/widowshulk/pseuds/widowshulk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It is finally time for the Doctor to take River Song to Darillium and say goodbye to his beloved wife.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Singing Towers of Darillium and the Fall of the Eleventh

He straightened his bow tie and moved his top hat slightly to the left. Then he crossed his legs, putting his hands in his lap. He didn’t like it when River got to fly the TARDIS; he had nothing to do with himself. Of course it was sexy seeing her like that, but he couldn't sit still.

“Relax, sweetie, we’re almost there,” River called.

Even with her back to him, she could tell that he was fidgeting. It even seemed as if he was doing it more than normal. That man could never sit still, not even for a minute. Something in his eyes seemed sadder than normal, but she hadn’t seen him since Amy and Rory… He must still be missing them, even though he has Clara now. She thought she’d given him enough time; after all, he was the one who came to her, with his new suit and that haircut that didn’t quite look right. Before Manhattan she’d been begging him to take her to Darillium, and now he was finally here. Maybe this trip would help heal him a little, nothing like married couple time to lighten his mood.

He was older than she’d ever seen him, and their timelines were completely synced, for a nice change. They both knew that they were married and they had both seen the ‘death’ of River’s parents. This could be the chance she’d been thinking about for many years, perhaps now that their timelines were coming together, things could be normal between them? They wouldn’t spend all of their time together, but at least she wouldn’t have to be wary of giving anything anyway.

The TARDIS parked nice and easily and the Doctor leapt up from his sweet and danced over to his wife, putting one arm around her waist.

“I’ve missed you, River,” he pecked her lightly on the cheek before grabbing her hand and leading her to the TARDIS door.

“I’ve missed you, too, sweetie. Next time we shouldn’t leave it so long,” she replied, slotting her hand into his. Their hands always fit together, and it made her feel safe. She’d never tell him that, of course, but it felt so nice to be here with him again.

“I’ve no doubt you’ll see me – another me – not this me – very soon. Oops, spoilers. Might I say that you look rather beautiful this evening, Professor Song.” He tapped her on the nose with his free hand before opening the doors onto one of the most stunning places that either of them had even seen.

The two silver towers glowed with turquoise haze, making a colour that no human words could even fully capture. The sky was a burning fuchsia and there were at least six moons in the sky. The ground was a mixture of blues and purples and there was nothing visible on the landscape except for the Towers. The singing was fairly quiet from where they were, so the two of them headed closer.

“We missed the suns setting. Oh, that’s stupid,” the Doctor sighed as they walked down a slight hill, hand in hand.

“It’s beautiful, sweetie; it’s so much more exquisite than I could have ever imagined. Thank you for bringing me here,” she nudged him affectionately.

“You are most certainly welcome, professor,” he raised their linked hands and kissed the back of her hand.

As they got closer to the Towers, the surrounding areas started to come into focus and there was so much more around them than just the two towers. There were natural springs with all different colours of liquid flowing out of them, pathways lined with the most inexplicably beautiful little flowers. Everything was nature; nothing had been built there, even the towers themselves. Two natural towers of rock formed over hundreds of thousands of years, and the singing was the wind that blew through the space between the towers. The singing was haunting in its magnificence, and the two of them must have stood there, completely still, for at least ten minutes before the volume died down a little.

The Doctor whipped out his sonic and pointed it at the sky, clearly disappointed that the singing had stopped.

“There’s going to be wind storm coming in – just an hour to go – oh, how the towers will sing,” he kissed her nose and danced around her, in his usual way.

“Let’s explore a little, while we have time. This place is extraordinary,” River headed off to the side of the closest tower.

The two of them wandered around for the next half an hour, but nothing could distract the Doctor from the fact that this would be the very last time he would see his wife. After he’d seen her at Trenzalore, he knew that it was time to bring her here and send her off the library. Off to help his younger self. He’d accepted that he loved her, and that he needed to say goodbye to her, but he didn’t realise that it was going to hurt this much.

“Doctor, there’s no one here. No humans, no aliens, no living beings. What’s going on?”

“Actually, sweetie, I called ahead. Ben at the Intergalactic thingy place – he owed me a favour – cleared the planet for us. I wanted it to be the very best for my wife.”

“Oh, you sentimental idiot,” she said with a grin, and kissed him lightly on the lips. “Find us a comfy spot for this wind storm then.”

The Doctor pranced around testing out different spots for the maximum comfort and the spot with the best optimal sound projection.

“Right here,” he yelled to River, patting the spot next to him. She joined him, placing one hand on his arm and resting her head on his shoulder.

“I could stay here forever, sweetie, for always.”

“Me, too,” the Doctor sighed, kissing her on the head.

They didn’t have to wait too long before the singing started up again, the music was so moving that even the Doctor started to cry. Once he started, he didn’t seem to be able to stop himself. This was going to be the last ever time that he would see his wife, his beloved psychopath. His very own Pond. River could feel the tears as they ran down his face and mixing with her own. She had never been more content – never been happier – than she was at that moment. Everything felt right, everything was falling into place.

The Doctor’s tears were still flowing a couple of hours later, and River couldn’t bear the thought of her darling husband suffering, so she lifted her head to his and kissed his cheeks, removing the tears from his face.

“What is it, my love?” she whispered, not wanting to interrupt the ever-striking singing.

“I’ve never felt like – this night – and you – it’s just all so… I’ve really missed you, River, I hope you know that. Talking to you, and playing with you hair and the -” he mimicked kissing.

“Oh, sweetie, I know. Your silly bow ties and your funny hats. I’ve missed you,” she said gently, as she straightened his bow tie and removed his top hat.

The two of them laid down, holding on to one another, for hours. Not saying anything, not doing anything, just listening to the Singing Towers. They had never needed words to demonstrate how they felt for one another, just being here, enjoying this night, was enough. Eventually the singing stopped and they both knew that their night was up.

River flew the TARDIS back to her house, and for the entire journey back the Doctor was perfectly still. No crossing his legs or flapping his arms or even straightening his bow tie. Completely still. She wondered if she ought to be worrying about him, but the singing had had a profound effect on her, too. If it was possible, she loved her husband even more than before.

“I should…” she gestured to the door.

“Wait, I forgot something. Don’t move. Not one inch,” he ran off down one of the corridors, reappearing just a couple of minutes later.

“I got you something. A gift. I called in at your university and they said you’re off to a library in a couple of days, so I wanted to give you something – to protect you,” he handed her a sonic screwdriver, with a small piece of paper attached.

“Sweetie, you shouldn’t have,” she turned the sonic screwdriver over in her hand, so that she could read what was written on the paper. It was a name. A Gallifreyan name. The Doctor’s name, she gasped.

“Don’t you like it?” the Doctor pouted.

“I love it!” she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him. She didn’t hold back this time. This was no time for restraint. “Oh, Doctor, thank you.”

“No one knows my name, River. They can’t. But you, you’re something special. You are my wife,” he finally got his breath back after she’d pounced on him.

They hugged a little more, but then it really was time for River to be getting back, she had a short amount of time to prepare for her departure.

“Thank you, Doctor, really. It means so much…” she grinned as she left the TARDIS.

“Don’t mention it.”

“Goodbye, Doctor, don’t leave it so long next time.”

“See you around Professor Song,” he closed the TARDIS door and his hearts – something was wrong with his hearts. It’s like they were being torn into two. The thought of never seeing River again was killing him. He’d only just said goodbye, but it hit him, that was the last time he would ever say goodbye to her. She was gone. Forever. And it hurt. So much more than he thought it would. So much more than it did at Trenzalore. His hearts were breaking, his whole body was shaking and the tears were streaming down his face.

“River,” he yelled as the regeneration energy poured out his body.


End file.
